Florist told me she doesn't have time for my questions…1 month to go! Vent

I emailed my florist 2 weeks ago about scheduling our first consultation and I never heard back. At that time I had a month and a half until the wedding, so I was starting to freak out that we have never met.

I emailed her again yesterday (now exactly 1 month to the wedding) to ask her about the centerpieces. I am building wooden flower boxes. I needed to know how she prefered to set flowers in them (do they need to be waterproof?), and the demensions I should build them to. I also asked again if we could set a date for our first consultation next month.

She finally responded in a very convoluted way and at the end of her email wrote a very long paragraph about how we could decide all of this at the consultation (which will be 2.5 weeks before the wedding). I will have NO clue what even an estimate of the cost will be until then. She basically said she knows what she is doing and quote “I have several weddings ahead of yours. I have at least 12 weddings ahead of yours as of today :-). Not including the many other showers, bdays, etc. that happen here at our establishment…this won’t be a problem as long as we schedule things in a way that works for us both”

a. I don’t understand how she has 12 weddings. That would be 3 weddings/weekend. It’s a resturant I have eaten at many times. They have never had a wedding while I was there.

b. I asked her very nicely if we could schedule something TWICE. I suggested a few dates and asked her if these worked for her. If they didn’t, to let me know what worked. I don’t see how that is scheduling something that doesn’t work for her.

I know being a wedding coordinator of any kind can be very hectic and stressful, but as 99% of you know, so can being a bride! I have been in customer service before and feel like you should never say something like that to a customer. I will pay her literally thousands of dollars, and she is basically telling me she doesn’t have time for me.

I am so fed up with this venue anyway. They switched coordinators on me halfway through and the new one tried to change everything! Telling me I couldn’t do things the previous one told me I could, charging me for things I was previously told were complimentary, upping the charge for literally EVERYTHING. AND they did the same thing with the florists! I just found out 2 months ago they got a new florist, too! All I know is they will be getting a terrible review.

I unfortunately think it’s true that when a vendor is included with the venue the service and often product is not as high quality. They don’t have to compete for your business, you’re stuck with them.

ETA: sorry that wasn’t helpful- at this point id just go with the flow. Do you have another option? If the answer is no all you can do is opt to care less! Flowers are noticed by the bride, no one else judges them.

I think that when you get venue who have their vendors included, you suffer through apathetic service.

Can you contact someone else to get the answers? Maybe an assistant.. It seems like you really need the dimensions for the boxes you’re building, her having to do 12 weddings has nothing to do with that. Its a simple question that needs an answer.

If flowers are the theme for me, I would have prioritized them in the planning and made sure I got my pick of florists who could work with me and whatever my vision was. I’m not sure what your options are now if your venue is “all inclusive” and you can’t bring in your own vendors.

KC-2722: Unfortunatly there is no one else I have even tried talking to the coordinator (who is equally rude and slow at responding to emails) and she refers me to the florist.

dmh426:BurlapnLace:HannahGrace: The venue included the coordinator, florist, and cake. I asked if I could bring in my own, and they said no. I am sure if I did, there would be a hefty charge. I asked what if the florist was not capable of giving me the look I was going for, and they answered “I’m sure she can work with you and provide you what you want”. I tried making a consult. about 2-3 months ago and she told we needed to wait until october/november when she would have a better idea of seasonal pricing.

I know this isn’t the best option but I would see if your venue hosted an FB page or Twitter and make your complaints very public right now. In my experience, the worst of companies suddenly have a change in tune as soon as you make a stink visible to potential clients. I’d write your complaints and conclude in saying your service has been so bad that this was your last option to get someone’s attention.

i know this probably isn’t much help but I have had so many companies I have dealt with suddenly become willing to help me after complaining on facebook, it may be worth a shot! either that or get bitchy about talking to your vendor about how pissed you are at florist and tell them to light a fire under her ass or you are going to get a new florist because flowers are part of your contractual agreement and they are not rendering that service in a reasonable manner.

texaslemon: Ugh, I’m sorry that’s terrible. I would contact a manager and provide feedback about your experience, as well as review them online. Surely the coordinator has a manager?

I would be so stressed out and irritated to have to wait on baited breath to know how much I’d be spending on flowers or if they can even execute what I wanted properly! I don’t think that’s normal, even for an all-inclusive venue.

Did you get to meet with the florist at all during the booking process? It seems like an ‘all-inclusive’ type venue should offer this to their clients if they wait 2.5 weeks before the wedding to discuss anything concrete.

KC-2722: no! the only one I have met with is the coordinator. I meet with her about every 2-3 months. She is the correspondant for food and cake, too. Designing the bride and grooms cakes and picking out the menu. But she does have a manager. I have already decided if she ticks me off one more time I will be asking to speak with them.

weatherbug: It’s all based on consumption. There was no fee for the facility if I meet a certain food and beverage minimum, otherwise there is a room rental fee. I have until 30 days before the wedding to back out without a penalty. But yes, cake and flowers are extra.

HannahGrace: I have seriously thought about it, but we only have 1 month to go and every venue we looked at was either already booked A YEAR AGO or thousands of dollars just for the venue, not including all the vendors. buh.

HannahGrace: Yeah, at this point so would I. I don’t like giving my hard earned money to unprofessional people. While planning, if anyone rubbed us the wrong way or was unresponsive, we moved on.

texaslemon: When did their unprofessional behavior start? If they’ve been unresponsive since the get go, that should’ve been a sign. I wouldn’t be waiting until she ticks you off one more time, I’d be connecting with her manager now. Surely she’s caused enough needless stress and worry.